Chinese warship joins Russian navy for Gulf of Finland exercises

A Chinese warship has joined an exercise in the Baltic, a day after it took part in Russia's navy day celebrations in St Petersburg.

Russia's Tass news agency reported that the Jiaozuo, a Type 052D guided-missile destroyer, took part in simulated anti-mine and search and rescue operations in the Gulf of Finland with the Russian corvette Soobrazitelny.

The Jiaozuo, accompanied by the Type 903A support ship Honghu,arrived in the Baltic 10 days ago.

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One of the People's Liberation Army's advanced warships, the Jiaozou is comparable to the US Navy's Arleigh Burke Class destroyers and is armed with hypersonic missiles.

The Gulf of Finland separates Finland and Estonia, both Nato member countries, though can also be accessed from St Petersburg. Finland, which has a 1,330km (830-mile) shared border with Russia, joined the alliance last year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Nato has been closely monitoring China's military cooperation with Russia, including recent joint naval patrols near South Korea's Jeju Island early this month and an exercise near the southern Chinese port city of Zhanjiang.

This month Chinese troops also took part in an "anti-terrorist" exercise with Belarus, a key partner of Russia. The exercise near Brest was just across the border with Poland and 28km from Ukraine.

The drill, featuring air-ground exercises, came just days after the Washington Summit Declaration issued by Nato leaders, which said China's deepening partnership with Russia was a matter of "profound concern".

The alliance criticised China' stance over the war in Ukraine and cited its "no-limits partnership" with Moscow and its "large-scale support for Russia's defence industrial base" as other concerns.

China has called for direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, but Beijing has never condemned the invasion and its ties with Moscow have deepened since the start of the war.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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